CALENDAR.

*New Technologies and Disability "An open market".This conference will address issues such as design for all, accessibility to public services, convergence and innovation and practical experiences in facilitating access. High-level speakers include Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and European Commissioners Erkki Liikanen and Anna Diamantopoulou. Organiser: Spanish Presidency of the European Union. Venue: Madrid, Date: February 6-7,Information: Juan Luis Monreal, Victus Rorat, C/Belen 3, 11/4, 28004 Madrid, Spain, Tel: (+34) 91 308 00 30, Fax: (+34) 91 319 92 54, E-mail: jlm@victusrorat.es, Web site: www.discapacidad-tecnologia.com* Regio Partenariat Europe.This event is meant to sponsor inter-entrepreneurial co-operation and the exchange of ideas gained through experience in order to understand and pursue the good practice that will lead to innovation and the sustainable development of co-partnerships and encourage internationalisation. Organiser: European BIC Network with the Region of Madeira and the European Commission, Venue: Madeira, Portugal, Date: February 28 - March 1.Information: Siobhan McQuaid, General Project Manager - EBN, E-mail: smq@ebn.be, Dalia Marques, Project Manager - BIC Madeira, E-mail: dmarques@ceim.pt, Melanie Vritschan, Specific RPE access & electronic yearbook, E-mail: mvr@ebn.be*Is the Lisbon vision being achieved?Following the release of the 2001 European competitiveness report and in preparation for the European Council scheduled for March, the European Commission has organised a debate to analyse how close Europe is coming to achieving the goal set at the European Council in Lisbon in March 2000 - to make the European Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world. The debate will take place at the Charlemagne building of the European Commission in Brussels on January 30. Results from the 2001 European competitiveness report highlight a slowdown in European productivity growth and this could be seen as a sign of poor innovation. Identifying the role of knowledge-based variables, looking at the reasons for the productivity gap, analysing why some Member States are surging ahead of even US standards and what role information communication technologies play in competitiveness.Both the European Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information society, Erkki Liikanen, and the Director-General of Enterprise DG, Fabio Colasanti, will be speaking at the event, alongside...